Confessions of a Barista
by FootstepsOnTheShadowedPath
Summary: Hinata and Sakura work at a coffee shop almost peacefully. That is, until a certain blonde walks through the door and friendships change faster than a girl who sees someone else wearing the same dress as her. NaruHina AU NarutoxHinata


Confessions of a Barista

Chapter One

Extra Whipped Cream

I have to admit that my first impression was "He is gay." In my defense, I do not typically see a good-looking man my age walking with another good-looking man my age into the coffee shop to place a complicated, non-fat order as though it were a daily thing. When Sakura lazed out of the break room to make the order, she even raised her eyebrows, asking me to repeat the order.

"Large, caramel top and bottom, non-fat, pumpkin spice latte," I repeated slowly.

"And extra whipped cream!" added in the excited customer I was helping.

Sakura rolled her eyes a little as she mixed together the necessary components, exaggerating the extra whipped cream to herself even while the customer could not see behind the counter.

I proceeded to make small talk while my odd customer's friend decided if he would get anything.

"So, Blondie, what's your name?" I questioned conversationally with my best please-give-me-a-tip smile.

The smile was certainly not only on my face because I wanted the tip. Aside from the boy's mischievous good looks, he had a certain energy around him that just made me want to smile. Or maybe I was just feeling a little lonely because the last cute boy I had run into was 5 years old, and he ran over my foot with a bicycle.

"Naruto," he replied, and that was all I could find out from him because a large sheet of whipped cream lashed through the air, some ending the reign of my perfect hair day, and Naruto's drink was thrust into his hand too fast for anyone to realize that it was Sakura who gave it to him.

Because I needed an explanation, and because I sensed there was something about this boy that made him dangerous for Sakura, I went against my screaming hormones and said, "If that is all, you should get going, we don't open our inside tables until 12:00 P.M."

So the tall boy walked out, his blond hair whirring about his head in the wind that the open doors pushed into the shop as his dark-haired friend cast an accusatory glance back at me before steering Naruto towards a navy blue car.

I waited to hear the distinct _dwump_ of a car door being shut before turning to Sakura.

"Hun, you know I love you, but could you please tell me what in kami-sama's name you were thinking?" I asked, trying to keep my voice calm because Sakura usually had a good reason for splashing whipped cream all over my hair.

Sakura's face stayed blank for a minute, and when she finally began to answer me, it was slowly and quietly, which not a typical way for her to act around me. _I_ was the quiet one of the two of us, and her change in attitude only confirmed that there was something wrong with the Naruto boy being inside the coffee shop.

"That," she informed me, "was Sasuke's best friend. And I'll sing Christmas carols to an atheist before I'll believe Naruto ever went somewhere in public without dragging Sasuke along."

"And Sasuke must be the ex-boyfriend you were so ready to avoid for the remainder of your life," I confirmed, putting two and two together. "So Sasuke has dark hair that sticks out in odd angles?"

"His strange hair would be why I started to refer to him as 'The Chicken.' That, and he made _really_ weird noises when we made out."

My eye began to twitch in a way that indicated I was disturbed. But my eye quickly subsided from its involuntary movement as I started to think of more pleasurable noises, and as I thought of those more pleasurable noises, I thought of the blond boy, which led to the sound of certain, more inappropriate noises filling my mind…

"Hinata!" Sakura exclaimed, pulling my mind from thoughts of Naruto's latte leaving a delectable trail down his torso.

"Sorry, Sakura-chan," I apologized. "I was just thinking about that blond boy and what would happen if he came back here again."

"I was actually hoping you could help me with that," Sakura explained as she wet a washcloth and began to wipe down the once-brown-now-white counter.

When she refrained from continuing her request, I raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"And how would I go about doing that?"

Sakura finished wiping the counter and found another washcloth that she proceeded to wet and approach my hair with.

"Oh, nothing of a bad nature; did you think I'd ask you to sleep with him just so he wouldn't come back in this coffee shop?" Sakura asked facetiously.

I blushed and muttered, "No."

"Anyway," she continued, rinsing off the cloth as she had finished with my hair, "all I wanted was for you to meet Naruto somewhere to discuss this predicament, because I just _know_ the idiot will come back and try to figure out what he did wrong. Because both Naruto and Sasuke do not yet know where I work, and I would like to keep it that way."

I tapped my fingers against the counter, wondering how exactly I would break this kind of news to a boy I hardly knew. I would personally find it odd if someone random person I had only seen once suddenly came up to me to tell me to never go back to where she works because her friend does not want to see her ex-boyfriend. Oh well, I owed it to Sakura as her friend to do this small task for her. Besides, I knew I would enjoy seeing Naruto again; he seemed just like the sort of guy that I liked.

"I'll help you," I announced to my best-friend-slash-coworker.

"Then let me see your phone," Sakura said, getting down to business.

When I handed it over, she programmed Naruto's number into my Contacts list.

"Don't worry, you can just text him, I know how much you hate calling people," Sakura assured me, mistaking my hesitation for using the number to be nervousness.

But the real reason was that I knew that number oh-so-well, having called it many times before. And I decided that paying my old friend Gaara a visit would be a good way find out why some random boy was using Gaara's cell phone.

* * *

Kisame: Ellz, there was no where near enough NaruSaku-ness in this chapter, people will stop reading because you talked about Sakura so much!

Ellie: You are always so considerate of my low self-esteem, Kisame. -cries in a corner-

Deidara: Aww, Ellz, he did not mean any of that! –hugs his favorite author-

Ellie: I am really your favorite, Dei-kun? –Deidara nods with his fingers crossed behind his back- Aww, you're so sweet. –hugs Deidara and kisses his cheek-

Deidara: Umm, please review so she gets distracted and lets go of me. And if you liked this, check out her other story, "A Hesitant Smile."


End file.
